Method for forming a thread joint



Sept. 20, 1966 c J, GONSALVES 3,273,33

METHOD FOR FORMING A THREAD JOINT Filed Nov. 4, 1963 2Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

INVENTOR.

CONRAD JOSEPH GGNSALVES ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,273330 METHOD FOR FORMING A THREAD JOINT Conrad J. Gonsalves, Arnhem, Netherlands, assignor t American Enka Corporation, Enka, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 321,244 Cla1ms pr1ority, application Netherlands, Nov. 14, 1962, 285,518 5 Claims. (Cl. 57-159) The present invention relates to a method for joinin-g or uniting at least two ends of multifilament threads and the joint per se.

In the textile industry, it is the practice to join thread ends by tying some form of knot and while such knots may be satisfactory tfor s0me purposes, they still have disadvantages. In the first place, the tensile strength of the thread in the knot is lower than that of the thread per se, so that the overall strength of the knotted thread is only as great as the brealoing point at the knot. Another disadvantage is that in processing knotted threads on textile machines, the continuity of the process may be impaired because the knots may be detained by slub catchers or get stuck wh-ile being drawn off from a thread paokage. When crimping a heavy denier thread, e.g. in a stuer box, the thread is guided into the stuffer box by means of two rollers and knots may prevent the yarn trom passing between the rollers in an unmpeded manner.

It is an object of the present invention .to form a thread joint or connection which does not have the foregoing disadvantages.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple and effioient method of joining two or more multiiilarnent thread ends.

The method according to the present invention for joining at least two ends of multifila ment threads is carried out by arranging two thread ends parallel to each other in an overlapping manner and the overlapped portion thus obtained is clamped in at least two places and one or more jets of gas are directed across the overlapped thread portion between the clamping points while the thread is maintained under tension. The .blast of gas across the thread bundle results in entanglernent of its filarnents and therehy causes the thread ends to be in eflect gas spliced which retains the joined thread ends in permanent engagement. The friction between the engaged filaments results in a joint that has substantially the tensile strength of the thread per se.

The gas spl-ieing is normally referred to as tangling and the entire operation may be conducted in an enclosed system or in the open. The thread bundle may he passed continuously through the gas jet stream, but in most cases, this is not necessary. Directing a jet of gas successively across a few points of the thread bundle will usually insure satisfactory coherence. Such a method is hereinafter referred to as spot tangling and means that a joint or connection is obtained which has a strength equal to that 0 continuoustangling along the axis of the thread.

Spot tangling ean also be conducted in a one stage operation, i.e., by simultaneously directing a plurality of gas jet streams onto the stationary thread bundle at several points. If the num=ber of tangled spots is sufiioiently high, the strength of the joint may be equal to or even higher than the strength of the threads themselves. After the spot tanglng operation has been oompleted, the free ends of the thread which were clamped during the process are out 0. Qf course, more than two ends may 'be joined in the same manner.

The threads to be united may have some twist, although they should not be twisted over one turn per inch, because 3,Z73,330 Patented Sept. 20, 1966 a twist of highet than that magnitude prevents the filaments frorn becoming sufliciently dispersed in the gas jet stream, with the result that they are not entangled.

Although the gas jet stream may be directed across the thread :bundles at any angie, .for providing the most satisactory joint and in order to obtain the optimum tangled eect, the gas jet stream should be directed at rght angles or normal to the thread axis. This tension on the thread during tangling may vary between wide limits, although the best results are obtained when using a thread tension between 0.05 and 0.3 gram per denier. Any type of gas may he employed in the jet assembly, for example, carbon doxide, nitrogen, and saturated or unsaturated stearn, but for reason-s of economy the use of air is preferred.

Any type of manmade thread may be utilized in accordance with this invention, for example, regenerated cellulose, cellulose acetate, polyamides, polyesters, polyalkylenes, polyacrylonitrile, etc. When splicing regenerated cellulose thread ends, they should be moistened with, for example water, before the tangling operation is eifected.

The method may be carnied out by clamping the thread bundle and keeping it under tension d-uring tangling either by hand or by mechanica] means.

FIGUR=E 1 is a section through a known jet tangling device as disclosed in application Serial No. 238,506 filed Nov. 19, 1962, and having common ownership herewith. The thread ends are shown in overlapping parallel relationship and the thread clamped at two points in the overlapped portions; and

FIGURE 2 is a perspeetive view showing a system for joining or uniting three =differently colored yarns to produce a moulinee efrect.

Referring to FIGURE 1, air or other gas is supplied trom any suitable source to a nozzle 10 and is directed under pressure outwardly through exit 11 and thence into a resonance chamher 12 via opening 13. The opening 1.3 is op=posite to, and directly aligned with, the exit 11 in nozzle 10. Two thread guides 14 are d-isposed on each side of the jet assembly so that overlapping threads 15 and 16 intersect the centre line of the nozzle exit 11 and openings 13. The ends of threads 15 and 16 are held under tension by clamps 17. When gas is directed across the double thread or thread bundle, the filame-nts are entangled with the result that a tangled spot or joint is produced.

Referrng now to FIGURE 2, a system is shown in which three sets of thread ends are joined and later twisted te form a composite yarn and, if a. moulinee type yarn is desi-red, each of the therads may be a different color. Th-is system has the advantage that the threads may be joined in such a manner that the connections or joints are invisible. This is accornplished in the following marmer.

The appanatus of FIGURE 2 is mounted on a platform generally indicated at 18 which is provided at each end thereof with rotatable spindles 19 and 20. Thread packages 21 and 22, which have been rwound on tubes 23 and 24, are mounted on the rotatable spindles 19 and 20, respectively. The composite yarns 25 and 25 are of identical construction and are obtained by twisting together three threads each having different colors which when processed in a stuffer box provides a composite moulinee yarn.

The rotatable spindle 20 is mounted on a support 26 and is attached to 'wheel 27 prov-ided with a handle 28. When this wheel is rotated by hand, the -r-otatahle spindle rotates a-bout an axis which is perpendcular to the axis of rotation of sp-indle 20; also mounted on support 26 is a fixed thread clamp 29.

On the lefthancl side of platform 18 is: mounted a tiltable thread clarnp 30 which is normally retained in a vertical postion by means of a sleeve 31. When the sleeve 31 is moved upwardly, the thread clamp 30 is tilted under the infiuence of weight 32.

An upright wall 33 is rigidly mounted near the rear of platform 18, which wall is provided with three jet assembly supports 34, 35 and 36 spaced longitudinally with respect to the axis of the thread. A tangling device 37, such as that shown in FIGURE I, may be mounted on any one of the supports 34, 35, and 36 during each each tangling operation.

The ends of composite yarn 25 and 25' may be joined or gas spliced in the following manner. A porton of composite yarn 25 is unwound from the package 21 and at the required distance trom its end fastened in clamp 30. The twist is removed from the composite yarn portion 25 by hand, to provide three separate threads 38, 39 and 40, which threads may be of different colors in case a moulinee type yarn is desired.

In a similar manner, a portion of composite yarn 25 is unwound from package 22, fastened in clarnp 29, and untwisted by hand so that three separate threads 41, 42, and 43 are obtained.

Each of the three sets of threads 38, 41; 39, 42; and 40, 43 are shown in three stages of the process. The first set 38, 41 are shown in the gas jet device in readiness to be joined or united by the gas jet stream. T he second set 39, 42 have been joined and removed from the gas jet stream and are being held under tension while the loose ends are being cut. The third set 40, 43 are shown separated and before they have been placed in the gas jet device for joining.

In FIGURE 2, the tangling device 37 is mounted en support 35, and threads 38 and 41 are disposed in the tangling zone of the tangling device 37 in parallel, overlapping fashion. Attached to the ends of threads 38, 41 are weights 44 in order to impose a tension on the threads. The thread ends 38, 41 are gas spliced and joined by means of the intertangling of the filaments as a result of drecting a gas jet stream across the overlapped portions of the threads. After the weights have been removed, the joined thread is removed from the tangling zone and pulled out of the path of the other threads by means of spring hook member 45, Finally, the end portions of thread beyond the joint are cut otf.

The same procedure was used when thread end 39 was joined to thread end 42, with the exception that the tangling device 37 was utilized at the first locaton, namely, mounted on support 34. The third thread end 40 is joined to thread end 43 in the same manner when the tangling device is mounted on support 36. In this way, three tangled connections are provided which are invisible because of the diterent locations of the tangling jet. If the tangling device is not shfted, the connections would be at the same lineal point and cause it to be visible and possibly objectionable. Shifting the tangling connections along the axis of the separate threads has the additional advantage that the tensle strength of the connection is usually higher than when the connections are at one point.

Finally, the sleeve 31 is moved upwardly in order to impose a tension on the joined threads, which tension is preferably equal to the tension on the threads when they were originally twisted together. After the threads have been removed from the spring hook member 45, the support 26 is rotated whereby the joined threads are twisted together in such a way that the joint shows the same number of turns per inch as in the original composite yarn 25-25.

If the moulinee yarn has alow twist, it is as a rule not necessary to twist the joined threads together, especially if the distance between the thread clamps 29 and 30 is small.

Even if the moulinee yarn has a high twist, it is not always necessary to twist the joined threads together. In that case, the detwisting of the moulinee yarn by hand should be carried -out by pulling the component threads apart, as a result of which the twist in the yarn is shifted in the direction of the package. After makng the connections in the above-described way, the joined threads are automatically twisted together.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of uniting at least two ends of multifilament threads which comprises arranging at least two thread ends in substantially parallel overlapping relation, clamping the overlapped thread portions at at least two points, directing at least one jet of gas across the overlapped thread portion and between the clamped points while maintaining the overlapped thread portion under tension.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which the jet of gas is passed in a direction normal to the thread axis.

3. A method according to claim 1 in which the tension on the thread is maintained between 005 and 0.3 gram per denier.

4. A method according to claim 1 in which the thread is formed from a synthetic linear high polymer.

5. A method of uniting more than two ends of multifilament threads which comprises unwinding at least one set of composite yarns, untwisting a portion of the composite yarns to provide several separate multi-filament threads and on each pair of threads conducting the following steps: disposing a pair of thread ends in parallel overlapping relation in a tangling zone under tension, directing a jet of gas across the overlapped thread portions to form a joint, removing the joined thread from the tangling zone and after changing the locaton of the tangling zone, repeating the tangling operation on another pair of thread ends, and finally twisting the several threads which have been joined at dierent lineal points in the thread whereby a composite yarn is reformed having invisible joints throughout its length.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1502,056 7/1924 Pearson 5722 2,061,549 11/1936 Chase 57-159 2,515,172 7/1950 Abbot't 57159 2,605,603 8/1952 Willis 57-142 3,012,398 12/1961 Merkle 57--159 3120,734 2/1964 Peterson et al 57142 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,339,421 8/ 1963 France.

956,992 4/1964 Great Britain.

FRANK I. COHEN, Primary Examner. MERVIN STEIN, Examiner.

D. E. WATKINS, Assistanz Examiner. 

1. A METHOD OF UNITING AT LEAST TWO ENDS OF MULTIFILAMENT THREADS WHICH COMPRISES ARRANGING AT LEAST TWO THREADS ENDS IN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL OVERLAPPING RELATION CLAMPING THE OVERLAPPED THREAD PORTIONS AT AT LEAST TWO POINTS, DIRECTING AT LEAST ONE JET OF GAS ACROSS THE OVERLAPPED THREAD PORITON AND BETWEEN THE CLAMPED POINTS WHILE MAINTAINING THE OVERLAPPED THREAD PORTION UNDER TENSION. 